India’s general election 2019 began on April 11 and will end on May 19. Votes will be counted on May 23
MUSLIM MIRROR – Israeli Ambassador to India, Dr. Ron Malka was in Guwahati in the first week of May. Although Malka officially called on Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in Guwahati .There are speculations of him having met the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat as well, primarily because Bhagwat had been quietly camping in Guwahati for about a week during this period.
Though there are no official reports of the two having met, but can RSS chief also being in the state with no particular reason be a mere coincidence?
Opinion polls say the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continues to be the frontrunner, but it is likely to return with fewer than the 282 seats it won in 2014
Many political commentators have also questioned the perfect timing of both Ron Malka and Bhagwat being in the same city.
PM Modi is banking on stirring Hindu nationalism by accusing the Congress party of being soft on nuclear rival Pakistan, pandering to minority Muslims for votes and indulging Kashmiri separatists
“RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has been quietly camping in Guwahati for about a week now. Then, Israel’s Ambassador to India, Ron Malka too was in Guwahati yesterday. No, there are no reports of the two having met, but shouldn’t we be worried?” asked a twitterati Nilim Dutta.
Opposition parties accuse Modi of digressing from the main issues affecting nearly 70 percent of the population living in villages and small towns.
What raises the doubt further are the credentials of Ambassador Ron Malka. He is widely believed to be a political appointment by Israel PM Netanyahu as he isn’t a career diplomat. Between 1983 and 2007, Ambassador Malka was in military service. He retired with the rank of Colonel. He had served 9 years in the IDF Intelligence Corps and for 16 years held managerial positions in the Chief of Staff’s Financial Advisory Unit.
DESPARDES News Monitor: India’s opposition parties have recently taken heart at what they see as signs the BJP is losing ground and have begun negotiations over a post-election alliance even before polling ends on May 19.
Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, a political commentator and Modi’s biographer, tells Aljazeera Modi is “the most visible prime minister”. But he adds: “There could be an element of fatigue also. People at the end of it are looking at their bottom line. I think the issues of employment and rural distress are very important.”
Political analysts say that state-based and caste-driven parties could be decisive in determining the make-up of the next government, as a lack of new jobs and weak farm prices have hurt the BJP.
“Regional parties will play a bigger role compared to the previous five years or even 15 years,” said KC Suri, a political science professor at the University of Hyderabad. “They will regain their importance in national politics.”
